Collapsible crate.



E. L. OOSGROVE &-W. S. SMITH.

GOLLAPSIBLE CRATE. APPLICATION FILED MAY 10, 1909.

938,041 Patented Oct. 26, 1909.7

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

mum. a. mum! 00., FNDTQ-LITMOORAPNER$ wmlmemmv. c.

E. L. COS GROVE '& W. s. SMITH. j

GOLLAPSIBLE (IRATE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 1Q, 1909.

938,041 Patented Oct. 26, 1909. w 2 sums-slum 2.

ElnuwtozS 22 1 j z/m l N v 5 l E v (1M1;

ANDREW. a. mumul can rnoYo-Llfl camwms. wAswnnTuu. 2,0 I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EZRA L. COSGBOVE AND WINFIELID SCOTT SMITH, OF WHARTON, OHIO.

COLLAPSIBLE CRATE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 26, 1909.

Application filed May 10, 1909. Serial No. 494,987.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EZRA L. Cossnovn and VVINFIELD Soo'r'r SMITH, citizens of the United States, residing at lVharton, in the county of Wyandot and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Collapsible Crates; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements in collapsible shipping crates and comprises a surrounding wall made up of woven wire and slats and flexible and in the provision of means for holding the crate rigid when opened out.

The invention comprises various details of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts which will be hereinafter fully described and then specifically defined in the appended claim.

We illustrate our invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 1s a perspective view of a crate made in accordance w1th our invention. Flg. 2 1s a sectional view transversely through the crate and one end thereof, and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view showing the crate collapsed.

Reference now being had to the details of the drawings by letter, A, A designate a series of slats forming the surrounding wall or inclosure of the crate, said slats having woven or twisted wires B holding the same spaced apart and securely in place. Said woven or twisted wire is flexible and allows the slats to fold flat, as shown in Fig. 3, when it is desired to economize room for storage or shipment. The ends of the crate are made up preferably of lattice work and certain of the strips G of said ends are extended beyond the ends of the other cross strips forming portions of the ends and are adapted to engage the corner strips of the surrounding wall or inclosure of the crate and hold the crate rigid by stretching the sides, as will be readily understood. Fixed to each strip G are the metallic angled plates D which project beyond the. ends of the strip O and engage over the outer faces of the end of the corner strips of the surrounding inclosure, thereby holding the latter securely in place.

By the provision of a collapsible crate made as shown and described, it will be noted that, when the crate'is opened up for use and the end pieces applied thereto, the crate is held rigidly by the provision of the projecting ends of the cross-pieces stretching the sides and in the provision of the angled plates preventing spreading of the walls. When not in use, the ends may be easily removed and the crate reduced to a compact form.

It will be further noted that the circumferential inclosure of the crate is made of a continuous woven work ofwire and slats without hinged connections at the corner, the wire to which the slats are fastened being flexible, allowing the crate to fold as well as though the special hinged connections were afforded.

What we claim to be new is A collapsible crate comprising, in combination with a surrounding inclosure made up of woven wire and slats, ends having strips, one of which has projecting ends extending between oppositely disposed slats of EZRA L. COSGROVE. VVINFIELD SCOTT SMITH.

Witnesses:

ORVILLE KEAR, A. C. KIRBY. 

